A ‘Select’ store in Ruwi is selling “Cadbury Flake” which has overshot the expiry date by over two months. It doesn’t end here. Unlike other shops, all items cost 50/100 baisa more in ‘Select’.
Pay more to eat crap?
Looks like.
MUSCAT: Coffee shop manager Lalit Jadeja groaned as white-robed Omani officials swooped down on his Filipina cashier at one of the largest shopping malls in this Persian Gulf kingdom. It was the Omanization squad.
Why, the officials demanded, was a foreigner working the cash register?
The officials were enforcers of Oman’s campaign to put its young citizens in jobs occupied mostly by cheaper foreign workers. Similar programs, costing millions of dollars, are being tested across the oil-rich gulf region, where many are concerned that frustrated young people are susceptible to radical ideology.
But economists and other analysts say the programs have made little difference. In some cases, as in hiring quotas for citizens, government efforts have angered employers who say the campaigns have fostered a sense of job entitlement among local young people.
“It has to be fixed,” Jadeja, one of millions of Indians who have come to the gulf for jobs offered by its thriving oil economies, said later. “It will be an atom bomb one day.” (full story)
MUSCAT: It is said that the Bangladeshi man lost his mental balance two years ago after he drained out RO 2,000 on garlanding bar girls in Muscat. The incident left him penniless, which he realised only after leaving the bar.
Since then, this man has lost his mental balance, and is often seen wandering the streets, unable to recover from the mental shock, which left him in this pitiful state. The poor man has made the parking area of a building on Honda Road in Ruwi his present home. (full story)
The whole dance bar scene works this way. There will be an entry fee to get in to these dance bars, and once you’re seated, the drinks and food don’t come cheap. The booze is heavily priced. And, the gyrating girls from Indian sub-continent, Africa, Middle East make these men dance to their tunes. Their tactic is simple: each girl will select a particular man, and during the show, she will wink/smile/make faces at the man, making him feel important.
Ultimately, the man falls into her trap, and thereafter the miserly begins for him. He will shower her with garlands, and sometimes with garlands made of currency notes. He starts buying expensive gifts for the girl. This goes on for days, weeks, months, till his coffers are emptied. Once the girl realises this man doesn’t have a penny, she changes track, ditches him, and moves over to new person. It is said money-less locals trade their wives gold jewellery for currency with these dance bars in their bid to hold on the charms of these girls. Finally, they end up wrecking entire families.
The dance girls come on visit visa which lasts for three months. So they are under pressure to make money for themselves and for the dance bar owners. It is said many of these bar girls of Indian origin shop in hypermarkets in Muscat, buying expensive clothes worth many hundreds at one go. Many of them from Mumbai in India are known to own houses costing RO 40,000 and above!
…and I realised it over the weekend wherein I did the emceeing for a sports-related event which had the Indian ambassador as chief guest.
The following letter appeared in Times of Oman today.
RIYADH: An Emirati man attacked a Saudi woman on board an Emirates flight from Frankfurt to Dubai.The incident took place because of seating problems. The Saudi woman and her husband asked the Emirati family to move, which the Emiratis refused to do. The Emirati man then attacked the Saudi woman causing injuries which resulted in her losing consciousness. (more)
DUBAI: Passengers should be beware that fighting for a seat mid-flight can leave you stranded – far from your destination.A violent incident erupted between an Emirati family and a newly-wed Saudi couple, who didn’t like the seating arrangement. The paper reported that the Emirates flight was from Frankfurt to Dubai, but had to make an unscheduled landing in Istanbul, where the newly-weds disembarked. They were returning to Saudi Arabia from their honeymoon in Germany, and were planning to stop-off in Dubai.Expressing satisfaction over Gulf News’ ‘mature handling’ of the news, the chief executive of Emirates airlines has promised 25 full page advertisements for the month of September.
The Church roundabout, studded with traffic lights, was thrown open to public use from yesterday. Ironically, the roads leading to the roundabout from Darsait and Rex Road sides witnessed serpentine lines of vehicles during peak traffic hours yesterday. Not sure, if the new traffic lights at the junction had anything to do with it.
No of journalists attending the event: 10
No of extras attending the event: 30 and more (extras include marketing guys, brand executives, circulation folks, hordes of photographers and every one other than journalists)
Reason: The telecom giant is known to dole out delicious freebies (read gifts) as part of their press conference event.
…and now compare this to a press conference at a ministry.
No of journalists: 3
No of extras:Zero
Reason: Other than tea and biscuits, nothing else is ‘served’.
